By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office
You don’t have to wait until Election Day to vote in person. Voters eligible to vote in the April 5 Special Primary Election for Assembly District 80 can take advantage of early voting at five vote centers starting Saturday, March 26. The centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Monday, April 4 at the locations below:
· Southwestern Community College
· Lot A, Building 18A-Room 214
· 900 Otay Lakes Road
· Chula Vista, 91910
· Camacho Recreation Center
· Gym
· 1810 E. 22nd Street
· National City, 91950
· Southcrest Recreation Center
· Meeting Room 1
· 4149 Newton Ave.
· San Diego, 92113
· Montgomery High School
· Library
· 3250 Palm Ave.
· San Diego, 92154
· Colonel Irving Salomon Community Center
· Game Room
· 179 Diza Road
· San Diego, 92154
On Election Day, April 5, four more vote centers will open for a total of nine locations and the hours will change to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find a vote center or ballot drop box location near you inside your voter information pamphlet. Or you can look it up online at sdvote.com.
Vote centers replace polling places and provide more services. You can visit any one of the County’s vote centers to drop off your ballot or vote in person. Vote center services include:
· ADA accessible ballot marking devices
· Voting assistance in the County’s four federally covered languages: Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese and Chinese
· Voter registration or updates, and voting on the same day
· Voting in person if you made a mistake or lost your mail ballot
Voters will use a touch screen to make their selections on ballot marking devices. When finished, the voter will print out a paper official ballot with their selections. The voter can review the ballot and place it in the ballot box to be counted at the Registrar’s office. The ballot marking device does not store, tabulate or count any votes.
Remember that campaigning or electioneering within 100 feet of a vote center or ballot drop box location is not allowed. This includes the visible display or audible dissemination of information that advocates for or against any candidate on the ballot.
Voters can still save themselves the trip and mark their ballot from home. Be sure to sign and date the return envelope, seal your completed ballot inside and return it to a ballot drop box location or vote center.
Early voting is already underway at the Registrar’s office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Some ballot drop box locations and the Registrar of Voters office will be closed on Thursday, March 31 in observance of Cesar Chavez Day.
If you already returned your mail ballot, you can confirm when it was received by the Registrar’s office at sdvote.com or you can track it through the U.S. Postal Service by signing up for “Where’s My Ballot?”.
Learn more about voting in the 80th Assembly District Special Primary Election at sdvote.com, call (858) 565-5800 or toll free at (800) 696-0136.
